


A Bit Different (Being Rewritten)

by EvalynnMesserli



Category: Sonic the Hedgehog (Video Games), Sonic the Hedgehog - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe, Backstory, Multi
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-10-24
Updated: 2018-11-28
Packaged: 2019-08-07 03:47:57
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 14
Words: 17,470
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16400771
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/EvalynnMesserli/pseuds/EvalynnMesserli
Summary: Sonic has always been a bit different. He could run faster than the speed of sound, he could easily destroy any machine that came his way, and he had an affinity for chaos energy. He's never given much thought to it. It's just how he is, but why is he so different? Why is he able to do the things that he can? Simple. He's not everything that he seems. He's so much more.





	1. Prologue: Stranded

**Author's Note:**

> This entire thing is inspire by @squigglydigglydoo, @spiritsonic, @monpian, and @whatisthisnonsense's sonic theory. You can find it on tumblr.

Aviya stared in shock at the control panel of the Bayit. This could not be happening. It should not have happened. It was supposed to be a simple drop off. In and out. The Bayit had done it thousands of times before with former generations so why did this happen now? 

“Aviya…” Dikla said, staring in horror at their captain. “What have you done?”

\------------

“Thrusters at half power,” Dikla reported, staring at the holographic screen at their fingertips. “They will reach maxim power by the time we are ready to enter the planet’s atmosphere.”

“And how long will it take to drop off the Chaos Emeralds?” Captain Aviya asked.

“We will be in and out before Gaia begins to awaken.”

“Good,” Aviya said. They stared at the blue planet in front of them. In just a few short moments, they will have completed the mission that every captain before them had done. They would enter the blue planet’s atmosphere and deliver the Seven Chaos Emeralds to the temples to keep the blue planet from splitting apart, thus allowing Gaia of the Light to battle Gaia of the Dark to keep the world in balance. They would then return once the battle was over to retrieve the Chaos Emeralds and use the extra energy they had acquired to enrich the Master Emerald.

It was not a necessary tradition. The Chaos Emeralds and the Master Emerald were already unlimited in power, but the Master Emerald enjoyed the extra energy and at this point, it was seen as a right of passage for the captain of the Bayit to deliver and then retrieve the Chaos Emeralds. Successfully complete this task and they would win the respect and loyalty of the crew. So far, no captain had ever failed and Aviya did not plan on being the first.

“Stav!” Aviya commanded. “Make sure we stay one course and alert me when we are entering the atmosphere of the blue planet. I am going to go check on the little ones and see if any have mutated yet.” Aviya turned and walked out of the control room and headed for the nursery. 

As Aviya passed the other Mayims, they could sense the excitement. This drop off happened only once every generation and everyone could not wait to see it executed. Many even stopped and congratulated Aviya despite the fact that they had not yet succeeded, but no one expected them to fail. How could they? Every captain succeeded. Surely Aviya would be the first. 

Right before they entered the nursery, Aviya decided to check on the Chaos Emeralds and the Master Emerald. They walked up the long tunnel and entered the top of the Bayit to the altar with the Chaos Emeralds and Master Emeralds. When they approached they felt the Master Emeralds humming with excitement. Finally after so long it would get it’s extra energy. It could not wait. Aviya grew warm with joy over helping the Master Emerald feel such happiness. They placed their three fingered hand on the Master Emerald and closed their eyes, allowing the energy of the Master Emerald wash into their liquid-like form. 

“Thank you,” the Master Emerald hummed.

“Your welcome,” Aviya hummed back before taking their leave and heading back inside the Bayit. It was time to check on the little ones. The nursery was not very far from the alter. In fact, it was just below it. The little ones loved to soak up the Master Emerald’s energy and the Master Emerald loved to feel joy and wonder of the little ones. 

As Aviya entered the nursery, they were pushed aside by one of the caretakers who was cradling a pale blue form in their arms. A little one had mutated. Aviya stared at the small creature. Just a few cycles ago they had been that small but they found it hard to picture. So instead, they stared at the small being.

“Have they been named yet?” they asked the caretaker who nodded.

“Mem,” they told Aviya who reached out their hand to touch the small creature and warmed in joy. Mem followed suit and Aviya could tell that this would be a special one. 

“Captain Aviya, we are approaching the blue planet’s atmosphere. Your presence is required,” Stav hummed at the back of their mind. They nodded and removed their hand from Mem’s head, touched the caretaker’s and warmed up to say good-bye, and made their way back to the control room, ready to complete their task.

\-----------------

They need to leave. They had deposited the Chaos Emeralds so now they had to leave and come back later to retrieve them but for some strange reason, Aviya could not move. They heard their crew in the back of their mind telling them to pilot them out of there before Gaia fully awoke but they could not move. Something held them there and so they watched. They watched as Gaia of Darkness rose to envelope the blue planet in its darkness and as Gaia of Light rose to battle it. They watched the raging battle in fascination. Never had any Mayim ever seen something such as this. Never had they seen something so powerful. Aviya could not look away.

That had been their downfall.

It had been sudden. One moment they were suspended in the air, the next, they had been sent flying by a swipe that Gaia of Darkness had directed towards them. Panicked shrieking rose in Aviya’s mind and they struggled to get the Bayit under control having been snapped out of their stupor, but the Bayit would not listen. All it did was tumble through the air without direction or guidance, taking the Mayims with it. Everyone had gone shapeless, turning into simple blobs of liquid to avoid damaging things further. Time passed as the ship kept spinning and spinning and spinning and spinning, seeming to going on forever before a huge tremor and a loud explosion ran through them all. This was a first for them. It had been a sound from outside their minds. 

No one dared speak but they all slowly allowed themselves to take form. They all stared at each other in shock. Had that really just happened? What were they going to do? Finally, a soft voice hummed to them.

“Stranded.” It was the Master Emerald.

“No!” cried Aviya, panicked. They furiously struggled to get the control panel to work. They could not be stranded. It was impossible. The panel did not turn on. It had to be a mistake. Why? Why now of all time? They had to succeed. The Bayit was no longer operational.

“Aviya,” Dikla said, “What have you done?”

“I failed.”


	2. Chapter One: The Meeting

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A wild Snart appears! So part of this is based on the fact that in the Japanese manual for the original Sonic the Hedgehog game, Sonic and Dr. Robotnik knew each other before the events of the game, though it's never elaborated on, and on the fact that in some translations of the manual into English, they've never met. So I ended up doing a combination of the two. So yeah.

Doctor Robotnik was, in his (delusional) opinion, the greatest genius the world had ever known, in both his own world and in this one that he’d found himself trapped in over twelve years ago after wandering onto that blasted floating island that had disappeared into thin air and was nowhere to be found even though he had searched everywhere and--!

He really needed to learn to stay on track.

Ignoring disappearing floating islands (that leave him stranded as the only human on the entire planet--!), Dr. Robotnik felt that he could solve any problem that came his way. Any question or oddity, he could easily figure it out. Except for this. Except for the fact that on his screen showed him someone that should be dead being perfectly alive and healthy.

Sure, he looked older, it had been six years after all and he’d just been a small child when the incident had happened, but that didn’t matter because he still should be dead. Dr. Robotnik had seen his body himself. There was no way. 

Yet there he was, on the cover of South Island’s newspaper. “Local Hero Sonic the Hedgehog Saves the Day Yet Again” the headline read. Dr. Robotnik thought for a moment then turned to the egg-robo at his side.

“This might actually be him,” he said to the robot. “All the facial recognition scans match up perfectly, but I know I saw him dead.” 

The robot was silent. 

“I know! It’s impossible, but here he is! Perfectly fine and healthy!”

The robot beeped quietly.

“Don’t use that kind of tone with me!” 

The robot went silent again. 

“The question is how? How did he survive? And why is he using a stupid name like Sonic? Seriously? What kind of a name is that? Does he think he can hide from me?”

The robot remained silent.

“You’re right. It might not actually be him. Hmmmmm, how about this, I put my Life Data plan into action. If he’s the real deal then I can capture him and harness the Chaos Emeralds to power Robotnikland. I’ve improved since the last time so it will succeed.”

The robot beeped.

“I was getting to that! If he’s not who I think he is then it’s simple: he’ll die and I’ll have already started my conquest so there would be no point in stopping then. If I really need to I’ll just find some Chao to use.”

The robot beeped twice. 

“Good talk! Now if you’ll excuse me, it’s time I had a bit of a reunion.”

\---------------

“Thank you so much, Sonic!” the cat said, taking her books from the young hedgehog. “I really need to watch where I’m going huh?” She laughed loudly.

Sonic nodded, internally wishing she would actually follow through on her comment. This was the third time today that Garnet had tripped over something and nearly gotten one of her books trampled or destroyed. One more time and he was just going to leave it.

“--not thank you enough,” Garnet continued even as Sonic grew impatient. She finally seemed to get the hint though because she smiled and said, “Anyhow, I’ll let you get back to whatever it was you were doing. Bye!” With that she ran off...and bumped into at least six people on her way to round the corner. Sonic shook his head in exasperation. When would she learn? He decided not to dwell on it and leave before she called for his help again. He had no problem with occasionally helping the villagers, but he really didn’t want the them to start depending on him too much.

So, he turned around and ran.

A normal Mobian can run rather quickly when needed or even just casually a with a lot of training, but Sonic was no normal Mobian. He didn’t know how and he didn’t know why, but he could run much faster than anything else on the island. Trains, cars, planes, whatever it was, he easily beat it. Some found it strange but it was normal for him. He’d been able to do it as long as he could remember and even before that. He never questioned it.

As such, he ran and ran and ran. Out of the village and all the way to a small shack that he called a home. Most wouldn’t be alright with a random twelve-year-old living on his own in a worn down hunk of wood that looked like it would collapse under its own weight with the slightest disturbance, but those who lived on the island had grown used to it. Sonic was strange and they had learned to live with it.

When he made it to the shack, Sonic immediately went around back to the banged up red plane which sat, rusty and unoperational, just a few feet away from the hunk of wood Sonic called home, where it had been for six years.

Sonic put his backpack down as he walked around it. He’d named it the Tornado when he first learned that most people named their planes. It had no special meaning to him, he’d just thought it sounded cool. The words written on the plane however, meant something. 

Sonic ran his hand along the blocky white letters on the side of the plane. His name sat there, startling against the red and gray. Noticeable. Demanding attention. Sonic had taken it as his name when it was discovered that he couldn’t remember his. In fact, he couldn’t remember anything before waking up in the village infirmary years ago. 

There had been an explosion on the opposite side of the island and when a search group had gone to investigate, they found Sonic lying unconscious surrounded by rubble from a house that no one had even known was there. They tried to question him when he woke up, but found that he could neither speak nor remember anything. Not even his own name. Nothing from the rubble was salvageable enough to figure out who Sonic was, but they had found an old plane that had managed to survive somehow, though it was completely broken and useless. Still, Sonic took it and the name painted on as his own. 

Six years later and he was trying to get the Tornado working again so he could leave the island. Don’t get him wrong, Sonic liked the island and the villagers well enough, but he wanted to explore the world. He wanted to find what else was out there and go on adventures and face off against dangerous foes like Fang the Sniper or even find someone who could keep up with him to race. He didn’t want to be stuck on this island where he was already an outsider his whole life. He was going to get out. He was going to fix the Tornado and find somewhere new. Even if he had no idea how to fix a plane. He’d figure it out. It was only a matter of time.

Sonic was so deep in his thoughts (at least for him anyway) that he didn’t see the flicky flying straight towards him until it landed smack in his face, surprising him to the point where he fell backwards onto his butt. 

The flicky flapped desperately around Sonic’s head, panicked chirps escaping its beak. Sonic stared at it a moment after he stood up, trying to figure out what was wrong when suddenly a robotic blue wasp came flying at them and snatched up the little creature. It looked at Sonic for a moment before quickly flying off back in the direction where it had come from. 

For a moment Sonic just stood there, unable to process what exactly had just happened. Then he realized that whatever that robot was must have been what the flicky had been afraid of. Without a second thought, Sonic raced after the robot and flicky, easily closing the distance between them. He was about to jump up and grab the helpless animal when he was thrown into a tree by a beetle-like robot. 

Sonic groaned silently as he stood up only to come face to face with a strange creature he had never seen before. It was almost egg shaped and had a pale and shiny peach head and giant orange mustache. It also wore a bright red shirt, black pants that looked like they were also its shoes, and a tiny yellow cape. The creature grinned at him before turning to the robot that still held the flicky.

“Do it,” the Egg Thing commanded and the robot shoved the flicky into another beetle looking robot. Sonic watched in shock as the robot trembled for a moment before opening its eyes and rolling away, the flicky still trapped inside. The Egg Thing turned back to Sonic and grinned wider.

Today was the weirdest day in Sonic’s life.

“Hello, ‘Sonic’” the Egg Thing said. “Long time no see, huh?”

Yup. Weirdest day ever.


	3. Chapter Two: Encounter

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Back to the Mayims! Did you know that the Hebrew word for water is mayim and that is it based off of mem, the word for chaos? Just found that interesting.

How long had they been stranded? Many cycles of light and dark had passed since the Bayit had been struck and had become nearly unoperational. It was still able to float and travel between dimensions to some degree, but not as it used to.

It used to be able to be able to travel through space and time in seconds, hopping from dimension to dimension with ease, but now it could only go back and forth between two. Between the planet inhabited by strange, fleshy creatures with patches of hair covering only parts of them that would attack the Mayims without a second thought and the Other World. No Mayim had ever been to the Other World before and they had only sent out a few scouts who reported it was similar to the blue planet but there were no signs of life. That fact alone scared them all.

Dikla stared up at the blue sky above them. White fluffy things floated across it. When the fluffy things became gray and much larger, liquid would pour down on both worlds. They had discovered that this liquid was everywhere. The creatures of the blue planet were dependant on it for survival. They were all so weak and fragile, it was a wonder they had survived at all.

“Dikla!” someone called out. Dikla turned to face the approaching Mayim. They stopped a few feet away out of respect. 

“Tovia,” Dikla acknowledged them. They hummed as to give the young Mayim permission to speak.

“We have tried to contact the Babylonians but we are unable to,” Tovia reported. “It seems our long range communicators have been cut off. However, if they come closer to this planet or the Other World then we may be able to make contact.”

Dikla hummed again. They were trapped for now, but they would get off this strange place soon. They just had to be patient. 

“And the Chaos Emeralds?” they asked.

“We are sending out scouts as soon as we can get back to the blue planet to retrieve them. Stav said we would be able to move at the beginning of the next light cycle.”

“Good,” Dikla said. “Have any more of the little ones mutated yet?” 

“I’m afraid not,” Tovia replied.

“Perhaps it is for the best,” Dikla mused. “We do not want them to mutate into one of those ferals of the blue planet.”

“Of course.”

“What of Aviya?”

“They are staying at the edge of the Bayit, away from the others,” Tovia reported. “The Master Emerald still forbids us from casting them out or using them as fuel as punishment for their failure. No one except for Mem will even look at them.”

“Mem, huh?” Dikla went cold with sorrow. A foreign feeling to them. “They are young still. Soon they will learn to shun the failure as the others do.” They turned to Tovia. “Thank you for stepping up and helping with keeping everyone calm despite being so young. You are dismissed.”

Tovia hummed and walked off, warm after the praise. Dikla would have been more joyful over such a young and eager one of them being so useful except their mind was on other things. Things involving the liquid on this world.

The Mayims could easily adapt to any environment they found themselves in. The little ones would see what kind of creatures surrounded them and mutate into a similar form when they were ready. They would often change in the past but after the Bayit was created, there was no need for it. They had kept their current form for generations and as such they had forgotten what world their ancestors had lived in that called for a body made entirely of liquid, save for their minds which were connected to easily allow communication from without having to use outside sounds and to contact each other from far away. They had forgotten what powers they had. One of which could prove useful.

Dikla thought for a moment then sent out a call.

“Stav, Yuual, Moran, Almy, I am in need of your assistance.

\-----------

The group of Mayims stared at the pool of liquid in front of them. They’d ventured out to a nearby body of liquid that had been discovered by a scout. The scout had also discovered something that Dikla found interesting and that they wanted to test out. 

“Focus and try and move the liquid,” they told the others. Everyone hummed in agreement and did as they were asked. For a while, nothing happened. The liquid simply sat there in its pool unmoving, but then ripples appeared. The five little ones who had accompanied the group watched, fascinated by the sight in front of them. 

The liquid slowly began to rise out of the pool and collect into the air in a giant sphere. Dikla stared in shock at the sight. So the scout had been telling the truth. They could control the liquid of this world.

“New,” the Master Emerald faintly hummed at the back of the group’s mind, quieted by the distance. “Want. Bring.”

“Yes,” the Mayims hummed in response. They all felt sorrow for the Master Emerald as they had not gotten the it the energy the Master Emerald had wished for. They would do what they could to bring joy to it again. 

Dikla thought for a moment to come up with a plan but Stav beat them to it.

“We should-” they began but was cut off by an outside sound behind them. As the group turned to look, the sphere of liquid fell back into the pool with a loud splash and more liquid tumbled onto the side, drenching the little ones, but none noticed as before them was something they had never seen before

Two spikey creatures stood in front of them with large white and black eyes. The taller of the two creatures was a dark brown with black tips on its spikes and more spikes on its back while its companion was a pale green and had none other than on its head. The two had long sticks with sharp rocks attached to the end that they had pointed at the Mayims. They glared angrily and snarled their outside sounds. 

For a moment, Dikla was confused. What were these strange things? They had never seen these things here before. Only the ferals. Then they remembered. This was not the blue planet. This was the Other World and the group had found its inhabitants. Dikla went cold with fear for the little ones.

If they were anything like the ferals on the blue planet, the Mayims had much to worry about.


	4. Chapter Three: The First Boss Battle

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> More Sanic time! Also an appearance of the Chaos Emeralds, or at least one of them. Not much to say here.

Doctor Robotnik grinned at the blue hedgehog in front of him. Victory was so close he could almost taste it! So far his plan was working perfectly and soon Robotnikland would be a reality! He’d succeeded in capturing the animals of the island and using them as fuel for his robots, allowing him to make unlimited numbers and now all that was left to do was to find the Chaos Emeralds and find out if this “Sonic” was really who he thought he was.

“You’re a tricky little hedgehog, aren’t you?” he said, tilting his head to the side. “I was almost worried you weren’t going to show up. I captured quite a bit of animals and yet you weren’t anywhere to be found, why is that?”

“Sonic” just stared at him, a confused look on his face.

“Not going to answer, huh?” Dr. Robotnik grumbled. “Fine then, I’ll take my leave.” He straightened and began to walk to his Egg Mobile. “However, unless you want all the creatures on this island that you’ve found to become fuel for my robots, then I’ll see you at the end of Green Hill Zone , if you can make it.” With that he got into his vehicle and flew off, cackling to himself loudly.

“Let’s see if you can survive, ‘Sonic the Hedgehog’”

\---------------

If Sonic had been able to process anything that had just happened, he would have noticed that the Egg Thing looked familiar. However, as he was trying to dodge attacks from various robots, the feeling was pushed to the very back of his mind.

Instead, all he focused on was moving. 

The wasp robots that had suddenly appeared shot at him using their stingers while the beetle ones tried to stab him every time he got to close. He somehow managed to evade their attacks while searching for a way of escape, but he couldn’t find one. They had him surrounded.

What he did next, he wasn’t able to explain. One moment he was standing in the center the robots’ attack, facing certain death, and the next instinct took over and he jumped at the first robot he saw, curled into a tight ball, and hit it. For a moment, the world seemed to slow down. 

As Sonic bounced back into the air after hitting the machine (somehow completely unharmed) he unfurled himself and watched in shock as said machine exploded, releasing the small bunny that had been trapped inside.

After that, Sonic stopped thinking entirely. He simply repeated his actions from before. Jump, curl into ball, hit robot, repeat. Soon none of them were left and all the formerly trapped animals danced or flew around him happily.

For a single second, Sonic allowed himself wonder what was going on. What was that Egg Thing? What did it want? How had he done that? He didn’t have any answers and there was no time to dwell on it either. He had to figure out what he was going to do. The Egg Thing had said that it was going to capture all the animals and use them for his own biding, whatever that was. Looking at what kind of robots it was making, Sonic was sure that it couldn’t be good.

He could go to the villagers and tell them about what was happening, but what would they do? They weren’t really prepared to fight against killer robots and even if they were, the Egg Thing had been quite clear: it was waiting for Sonic specifically for whatever reason. He didn’t want to find out what it would do if he didn’t come alone. 

Now, Sonic wasn’t overly attached to South Island or its inhabitants, but that didn’t mean he wanted them to be enslaved and turned into robots. He had to keep them safe. He’d made up his mind. 

He ran towards Green Hill Zone and prepared himself for what was to come.

\--------------

‘How many of these things are there?’ Sonic thought as he destroyed yet another robot, a mechanical fish this time. He’d lost track of how many he’d encountered and it seemed like they just kept coming. There was no end to them. He kept running.

He was about two-thirds of the way through the zone when he saw it. A giant golden ring, similar to the ones he’d been collecting just way bigger, was simply floating in the air spinning slowly in front of him. Most would assume it was a trap and avoid it completely, but Sonic felt a sudden pull and heard a soft voice that seemed to whisper in the back of his head. “Come,” it said and for some reason, Sonic couldn’t ignore it. So he jumped into the ring and everything around him changed.

Large birds appeared in the sky around him as multicolored diamond blocks materialized. Once more, his instincts took over and he curled into a ball. He felt the blocks hitting his spines and he moved through the strange space, but it was muffled by the pulling feeling that was telling him where to go, until he finally reached his destination. Not looking, he reached out his hand and grabbed onto a brightly glowing object. The second he came into contact with it, the birds and blocks disappeared and he was right back where he had first seen the giant ring. Everything was exactly as it had been, as if Sonic hadn’t left in the first place. The dark blue gem in his hand told him something else.

Sonic stared at it for a moment. It felt warm through his gloves and it seemed to tingle. Sonic had no idea what it was, but he figured it must be important if it had been hidden in that ring. So he put it away and continued on, determined to stop the Egg Thing from hurting anyone else on the island.

\----------------

Sonic had made it to the end of Green Hill. Just in front of him was Marble Zone and the Egg Thing was nowhere to be seen. Just as Sonic was about to continue on, thinking he had been tricked, a voice behind him said, “So, you survived! Congratulations.” Sonic spun around to find the Egg Thing in its weird hover thing grinning at him.

“I was almost worried you’d be killed by one of my creations,” it said, flying a bit closer, “but it seems my fears were for nothing. Of course, we’re not done here.” As it said this, the Egg Thing prepared to hit a button on its vehicle before noticing Sonic’s raised hand. “What is it?” he snapped. “I’m trying to unveil my creation that will destroy you.”

Sonic had been wondering something since he’d first seen the Egg Thing and now was the time to ask. He looked around for a moment then pointed at a bird’s nest full of eggs. He then pointed at the Egg Thing and gave it a confused face, silently asking a question. It stared at him for a moment before exploding.

“HOW DARE YOU!,” it shouted. “I AM NOT AN EGG! I AM DR. ROBOTNIK! THE GREATEST GENIUS OF ALL TIME! I was going to go easy on you, but now you will face my wrath!” With that, Robotnik smashed its hand onto the button and a giant ball and chain dropped from the bottom of his vehicle. It began advancing on Sonic, attempting to hit him, but he managed to dodge. Robotnik came at him again, laughing crazily. 

For a few moments, all Sonic did was dodge the ball before he decided he’d had enough of this. He began attacking the flying vehicle directly and after a few well-aimed shots, the vehicle began to spark and the ball and chain fell off, hitting the ground with a large crash. Robotnik yelled in frustration.

“Next time you pesky little hedgehog!” he cried out. “Just wait until I get my hands on all six Chaos Emeralds! Then you’ll be sorry!” 

Sonic watched as it flew away, heading to Marble Zone. He knew this wasn’t over yet. He still had to stop Robotnik and save his island. Before he chased after it though, he pulled out the blue gem he’d grabbed earlier. Was this one of the Chaos Emeralds? Somehow, he knew it was and that he needed to collect the other five to keep them out of Robotnik’s hands.

Sonic put the emerald away once more and entered Marble Zone, determined to stop the crazy doctor.

——————-

Doctor Robotnik cackled gleefully to himself. Yes, his first attempt to incapacitate the hedgehog had failed, but now knew one thing: it really was him.

Today was going to be a good day.


	5. Chapter Four: Change

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So. How's it goin'? Not much to say here. Uh, Spirit and Jasper are based off of two oc's I had when I was six. That's about all I have. So yeah. Enjoy.

Spirit liked to believe that not much phased him. He had to keep calm for his tribe and he felt that he was rather good about it. However, as he stared at the five strange creatures in front of him, he couldn’t help but feel unnerved, if only slightly.

The creatures all seemed to be made of water with brains floating inside and large green eyes with no pupils. They stood slightly taller than him and Jasper and had long arms and legs with only three fingers and two toes. They also seemed to have two long fin-like things draping down their backs and two small tuffs framing their faces. They also had no mouths.

“What are you?” Jasper demanded, gripping her spear tightly in her hand.

The creatures gave no response.

“Aren’t you going to answer?”

Again, nothing. They just stared at the two hedgehogs blankly. 

“Jasper,” Spirit said to his partner, “maybe they don’t understand us.” He turned to the creatures. “Do you know what I am saying?” he said slowly, making sure to over pronounce each syllable. The lack of response gave him his answer.

“So they have absolutely no idea what we’re saying,” Jasper groaned. “Great. Now what?”

“I’m going to try something,” Spirit said to her. He turned back to the creatures and took a step in their direction, but stopped when they all crouched into defensive positions. He had to be careful. He didn’t know what they were capable of.

“Hello,” he said, raising his hand in a greeting. “I am Spirit, Spirit the hedgehog.” He placed his hand on his chest. “Hedgehog.” He pointed at Jasper. “Jasper. Hedgehog.” Once more he put his hand on his chest. “Hedgehog.” He then pointed at the creatures. “And you?” Nothing. They didn’t even relax from their defensive positions, but they seemed less afraid and more curious than they had previously. 

“I don’t think we’re going to get an answer from them,” Jasper said.

Spirit sighed. “You’re right.” He turned back to her and opened his mouth to ask her if she had any idea of what to do when he felt something on his leg. He whipped around and pointed his spear at what ever had grabbed him, but instead of coming face-to-face with one of the creatures he was staring at something else. 

It was tiny. So small in fact that he could have held it in his hands easily. It had a raindrop shaped head with a small floating yellow ball above it. It had a round, pale blue body and stumpy limbs with yellow tips. The creature stared up at him with wide eyes and that’s when he noticed that there were four others standing by the water ones.

“Look at that!” Jasper cooed. She walked up to the one that had been gripping Spirit’s leg and held out her hands, her spear having been dropped when she saw the small creature. “Come here. I won’t bite.”

The little creature hesitated before it flew over using it’s small pink wings that Spirit hadn’t seen before and landed in the female hedgehog’s hands. She smiled at it and brought it closer to her face. Spirit looked at the water creatures to make sure they weren’t planning anything while his partner was distracted and saw that they had all relaxed and were simply watching the hedgehogs. The other small creatures were making their way over and circling Jasper in fascination. They began climbing on her and burrowing in her quills. “Careful!” she said when one poked its hand on them. “They’re sharp.” Spirit watched, a small smile on his face before he remembered what they were doing.

“Jasper,” he said. “We need to go.” 

“What?” she looked up at him confused. “Why?”

“The others will wonder why we haven’t returned,” he told her, “and if they discover these creatures, they might panic. I don’t wish to speak ill of any of our tribe members, but some of them do tend to jump to conclusions. We don’t want anyone to get hurt, do we?”

Jasper thought for a moment and nodded. She set the small creature in her hands back down. They stared up at her in confusion. She smiled sadly before turning to retrieve her spear. 

Spirit looked back at the water creatures in front of him. He raised his hand if farwell, before turning and following Jasper.

He would return to the others and tell them of this encounter. He would make sure if any of them met again, there would be no war.

\---------------

Dikla watch the two “Hedgehogs” run away. They were rather fast the Mayim noted. Faster than any of Dikla’s kind. 

At first, they had been worried that the two creatures would be like the savages of the blue planet and attack them, but they had not. In fact, they seemed much calmer and the little ones liked them which proved that they were not untrustworthy. 

“Dikla,” Stav interrupted their thoughts.

“Right,” Dikla turned back to the liquid. “We need to get liquid this to the Bayit.”

After a period of time spent struggling not to drop the liquid and having to go back to the pool several times, they finally managed to get it to the Master Emerald. They dropped it in the alter around the Master Emerald and watched as it glowed happily. Dikla walked up to it and put their hand on the Master Emerald. They felt it warm up in happiness and they followed suit.

“Thank you,” the Master Emerald hummed.

“Your welcome,” they hummed back.

For a moment, peace spread throughout the Mayims. Even the shunned Aviya felt the peace. For a single moment, all was well.

It was too good to last. 

“Dikla!” a caretaker called. “The little ones are mutating!”

Everyone heard the call and moved. They all wanted to see. Soon they were all gathered at the foot of the altar surrounding the five little ones. Mem sat the closest, so warm with joy that the others around them could easily feel it without touching them.

Dikla managed to get to the front of the group and noted that the five little ones were the those who had met the Hedgehogs. They watched as they glowed slightly. The smallest one, Shakhor, stopped glowing and simply turned to the other four. They weren’t ready yet it seemed.

Everyone’s attention was on the others. They watched silently as their forms began to grow and change shape. It was time.

Then everyone went cold.

Sitting in front of them was not four smaller versions of all the other Mayims. Instead, four blue and yellow beings looked at them with multi-colored eyes. Many of the Mayims began questioning what they had turned into but Dikla and the others who had retrieved the liquid for the Master Emerald knew. They did not look exactly the same, but they looked close enough that they were instantly recognizable.

They did not look like the Mayims.

They looked like the creatures from before.

They looked like Hedgehogs.


	6. Chapter Five: The Moving Island

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So did you know that South Island and Angel Island look a lot alike? The only real difference is the zones and that one flies while the other moves around on the ocean. Cool right?

There was a legend on South Island about six mystic gemstones that caused the island to move, floating on top of the waves, making it impossible to leave by boat. This was why it was dangerous to go into the ocean and many of the South Islanders never learned to swim and why planes were largely used across the island. It was simply too dangerous to do otherwise. 

Looking back on it, Sonic realized that the mystical gems were probably the Chaos Emeralds. With the energy they possessed, it was no wonder that the six of them could move an entire island. Though how exactly it worked would always remain a mystery. 

Either way, it explained a lot with how the South Islanders lived, but it also meant that if Robotnik got his hands on the Chaos Emeralds, it could name disaster for the island and its inhabitants, which was why Sonic was determined to stop him.

No matter what.

\---------------

There were robots everywhere.

Now, Sonic hadn't been to Marble Zone very often (the lava made sure of that), but he did know one thing: it wasn't supposed to be overrun with the stupid rustbuckets. What Sonic did know about the zone was that it was filled with ancient ruins. No one knew what had built this place. They had been around for ages, long before any settlers came. They weren't the only ruins on the island, but they were the most dangerous with all the death traps and again, lots and lots of lava. Still, minus the robots, the zone felt strange. It felt, familiar somehow, though Sonic couldn't place it. Maybe he'd been there before he'd lost his memories.

Sonic didn't have time to dwell on it. He had more important things to worry about, like finding the next Chaos Emerald and saving his home. 

\---------------

Sonic liked Spring Yard Zone. It was where the South Islanders had most of their parties and celebrations at. In fact, it was where Sonic had gotten his favorite birthday gift so far: flying lessons. So yeah, he had a lot of fond memories of this place.

Of course, Robotnik was doing everything in his power to ruin it.

After Sonic had gotten the next Chaos Emerald and had beaten Robotnik yet again (seriously, the guy needed to try a little harder) Sonic had entered the next zone to find it in a similar state with Robots and death traps everywhere. He had to give Robotnik some credit; the guy was thorough.

\----------------

Labyrinth Zone was the worst zone ever, Sonic decided as he stared down at the deep water below him. He (like literally everyone on the island) didn't know how to swim, but that was sadly the only way to get through the zone. He couldn't go around it because he'd seen Robotnik go in, but he really did not want to go in, but he had to even though he really really didn't want to, but he had to save South Island, but--

He was stalling.

Sonic wasn't necessarily afraid of water, but the inky depths of this body of water was making him nervous. Not to mention all the robots and traps that were probably down there. Plus he couldn't swim. Had he mentioned that? Because he really couldn't.

He needed to just go ahead and jump in before he psyched himself out. It wouldn't be as bad as he thought it was going to be. He just needed to jump. It would be fine.

"On three," he told himself. "One...two...three!" With that he jumped in and realized that this wouldn't be as bad as he thought.

It was so much worse.

\---------------

Sonic coughed harshly as he gasped for air. He'd finally made it out of the zone and he never wanted to go back. He hadn't been able to breath at all save for the occasional air bubble, but those didn't stop the feeling of panic that would settled around him as his lungs burned. He also hadn't been able to move, his body simply staying in one place as he struggled to force himself forward. And the robots. There had been so many of them thrown throughout the underwater ruins, making it even harder for Sonic to get to air. The entire thing had been a giant nightmare.

"It's over," he thought to himself, attempting to slow his racing heartbeat. "I'll never have to do that again." Sadly, this did nothing to calm him down. All Sonic wanted to do was curl up in a ball and just lie there for several hours on end, but he had a job to do.

He allowed himself five more seconds to just breathe before standing and continuing on to Star Light Zone, the twinkling night sky finally helping his erratic heartbeat slow down. There was always a feeling of calm in this place. One that not even the robots could get rid of. 

Sonic closed his eyes and just ran.

\---------------

Sonic had made it to Robotnik's fortress.

He briefly wondered how exactly the doctor had built it in such a short time with no one noticing. The place was huge! How had no one discovered it?

Robots were everywhere (nothing new) except now there seemed to be ten times as many. A few times, Sonic briefly wondered if he'd be able to get through, but somehow he had almost made it. He'd almost saved his home.

All six Chaos Emeralds buzzed warmly, sending energy running through the young hedgehog. He knew he should feel tired, but thanks to the emeralds, Sonic felt more energized than he ever had before. He felt like he could take on anything.

He could take on anything.

\---------------

Sonic was sure that the universe hated him.

He had just said that he would not ever go through another underground, water filled death area, yet here he was.

He'd finally forced his way through the robot army's lines and entered Robotnik's base only to be met by the doctor.

"Sonic," he had said, "so glad you could make it! I've been trying to think of a special way to celebrate you making it all the way here and I've finally found it! Since you seem to hate water so much, why don't you have some more!" With that, he had jumped on a ridiculously large button on the floor, sending Sonic into a nearly perfect replica of Labyrinth Zone, just grayer and with purple water that caused Sonic's eyes to burn. The panic was the same though.

"I'm almost out I'm almost out I'm almost out," Sonic chanted silently to himself as he near what he hoped was the end. He was almost there.

He finally made it out.

\---------------

Sonic ran as fast as he could away from the crumbling fortress, Robotnik's cries of disbelief and anger still echoing across the zone. Somehow Sonic had managed to defeat the doctor and ended his evil plan.

A grin spread across his face as he looked back to find Robotnik's base in ruins. He'd won.

South Island was safe.


	7. Chapter Six: Reunion

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Not much to say here so just enjoy the chapter!

Mem did not understand why everyone was upset with the newly mutated.

Sure, they looked different and they spoke using outside sounds as well as regular sounds and maybe they could run much faster than any other Mayim, but Mem just did no get it. They were still Mem’s friends. They were still the little ones who had spent the first part of their lives together, though Mem could not remember that clearly anymore. They were still family.

The others did not see it that way.

Mem heard the whispers. They heard the fear. Everyone was scared for what this meant for their future. How would they survive once they repaired the Bayit and got off the Other World and blue planet? Would they have to leave them behind?

If they were being honest, Mem did not care if they stayed or left. They had never known anything else, other than their brief time in space right after they had mutated. They liked these two worlds. They did not understand why the others did not. Nor did they really care. This was their home. They were not going to question it.

Mem made sure no one else heard their thoughts. They did not want to be shunned like Aviya. 

“Mmmeeemmm!” an outside voice called from behind the young Mayim, breaking them out of their silent thoughts. They turned to face one of their strange looking friends, Bracha. 

“The others are preparing to go back to the blue planet to get the Chaos Emeralds,” they said, their face hole widening and showing the white things in their mouth. “But Reut, Baruch, Akiba, and I were thinking of going to see the Hedgehogs. Do you want to come?”

Mem was surprised. They wanted to not go with the Bayit to retrieve the Chaos Emeralds?

“Will that not get us shunned?” they asked. Bracha tilted their head and wided their face hole even more. 

“Not if we say that we just happened to lose track of time,” they said. “We are still young ones. It could happen.”

Mem thought for a moment. It would not have been the first time that a young Mayim had accidentally been left behind on a planet and the others were not going to be gone for long. They would be back soon.

“Why do you want me to come?” Mem asked, stalling to give themselves a moment to think.

Bracha tilted their head the other way. “You are our friend,” they said. “We want you to come.” They reached out their hand and placed it on Mem. Their body was already warmer than a normal Mayim and they could not warm it up to show joy like the others either, but the gesture was obvious.

“I will come,” Mem decided.

“Great!” Bracha said. “We better leave, they are taking off now.”

\-------------

Spirit needed a break.

The last two day had been...strange, to say the least. First he had encountered those strange creatures and now he was staring at four small hedgehogs and another one of the strange creatures as they stared up at him. 

The creature looked just like the five from the day before, just smaller, but the young hedgehogs looked off. There were two males and two females and they all had dark blue furs and quills with yellow tips or stripes on them. Their eyes were different too. Instead of the normal dark brown or black eyes that a normal hedgehog had, theirs were different. Each one had a different color and they seemed to glow like jewels.

“...what?” was the only thing he could manage to say.

“We found these five wandering around near the pool that you said you and Jasper saw the strange creatures at,” Azar, one of the hunters, said. “Also this one matches the description you gave us.”

“What were you doing in the forest?” Jasper asked the hedgehogs, kneeling down slightly. 

“~*(_\ ^%&(!@{_-+!@~[‘.,?*&#$)” one of the hedgehogs said, tilting her head to the side, yellow eyes seeming to drill straight into Spirit’s soul.

“What?” Jasper asked. The yellow-eyed hedgehog’s brows furrowed in confusion before she stepped forward and placed her hand on Jasper’s face.

“Hedgehog,” she said with a heavy accent. She then placed her hand on her own chest. “Mayim.” She then turned around and walked over to her companions. She placed her hand on the green-eyed hedgehog that had been on her left. “Mayim,” she said again. She turned to the two hedgehogs on her right and repeated the action with each of them before doing the same with the strange creature.

She then turned to face Spirit and Jasper.

“Spirit,” she said, gesturing towards the hedgehog. “Jasper,’ she said, gesturing again. Once more she placed her hand on her chest. “Bracha,” she said. The hedgehog on her left stepped forward and did the same.

“Baruch,” he said. The other two did the same.

“Reut.”

“Akiba.”

Bracha then turned to face the strange creature behind her again. “Mem,” she said and grinned again at the hedgehogs in front of her.

For a moment, there was silence as the “Mayims” stared at the hedgehogs expectantly. Finally, Jasper broke the silence.

“At least we know what to call them,” she said.

“But why are there hedgehogs?” Spirit asked her. “Can these things change shape?”

“I don’t know,” she replied. “If they can it’ll still be easy to tell if it’s actually one of them.” 

That didn’t make him feel any better.

“?^_+]:’?` Mayim $&[]’?$ (}<@$%)} Hedgehogs ./#)]|<#$(]’ (&^” Bracha babbled off, the surrounding hedgehogs only catching a few words here and there. 

“Wait, wait,” Jasper said as she stepped forward and placed her hand over the “Mayim’s” mouth. The little hedgehog’s eyes widened slightly as her voice was muffled by Jasper’s hand. The others stared in surprise before they started covering their own mouths and seeing how loud they could be. They acted like they were much younger than they looked and Spirit couldn’t help but wonder exactly how old they all were.

Bracha giggled and placed her hand on Jasper’s mouth. Suddenly the pale green hedgehog’s eyes widened.

“Spirit,” she said, turning to face the hedgehog as she removed the younger one’s hand. “We’ve met these four before.”

“What do you mean?” he asked her. “I’ve never seen them.”

“They’re those small creatures from yesterday.”

“What?” He looked at the four. “How?”

“I don’t know, but I do know that they’re them.” 

Spirit stared at the four for a moment and watched as Akiba walked forward and grabbed onto his leg, looking up and grinned at him. He looked familiar somehow...

Jasper was right. It was them.


	8. Chapter Seven: The Gift

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This part of the story is now ending. Where'd Robotnik go? What will happen to South Island? What will Sonic do next? Stay tuned to find out!

Sonic smiled to himself as he ran back across South Island. All the robots had self-destructed (somehow without injuring any of the animals inside them) and he passed by many villagers who cheered when they saw him. He felt the emeralds humming happily as he ran on, their warmth seeping into his bones.

“Green Hill,” they whispered.

“Ok,” he thought back.

Once he got there, he stopped and pulled out the emeralds. They began to glow and floated into the air, flying in a circle. Somehow, Sonic knew that they were leaving.

"But South Island!" he desperately thought. If the emeralds disappeared, what would happen to the island?

"Safe. Good. Fine," they replied. An image of the island suddenly appeared in Sonic's mind, showing it to be near the main land. The emeralds had moved South Island so that it would be alright. Everyone would be safe.

"Thank you," Sonic thought. In reply, a bright light engulfed the area. Sonic closed his eyes and when he opened them, the emeralds were gone and the area around him was filled with newly grown flowers and dancing animals.

“Soon,” the emeralds whispered as a goodbye and Sonic felt their presence leave. Instantly all his energy was gone. He felt as if he couldn’t take another step, let alone run all the way back to the main village, but he had to make sure everyone was safe. So he sucked it up and kept moving.

\-------------

He couldn’t believe this. How? How? How had he failed? He’d had it all planned out. He’d laid traps and robots that would either kill or incapacitate Sonic so he’d either never be a threat again or could be used to forward Robotnikland. Instead the pesky little hedgehog had somehow managed to not only escape his many traps, but had also defeated him and destroyed his plan entirely!

Doctor Robotnik grumbled to himself angrily. It would be fine. Even if his plan had failed, he still had a backup. He glanced down at the screen in front of him. He had enough Life Data to put his Plan B into action and this time it would succeed.

All he had to do was wait.

\--------------

As Sonic ran the village, he found that nearly everyone had gathered in around the fountain in the center as the mayor, an old prairie dog, stood on the edge an tried to calm the crowd, which only got louder once they laid their eyes on Sonic.

Said hedgehog was immediately lifted up and carried across the crowd until he was standing next to the Mayor. He turned and smiled at Sonic in his quiet way before looking back to the crowd and once more trying to calm them. It wasn’t working. Sonic got impatient. After thirty seconds he’d had enough, so he placed two fingers into his mouth whistled as loud as he could. The crowd finally quieted to a low murmur at the sudden loud sound.

Thanking Sonic, the Mayor looked over the crowd and began his speech, but Sonic quickly zoned out, not paying attention to anything that was being said.

Finally, the Mayor finished and turned to Sonic who tried to pretend like he’d been listening the entire time. 

“Thank you Sonic, for everything,” he said. Sonic grinned and shook the Mayor’s hand. The crowd began to disperse and Sonic jumped down from his spot on the fountain and prepared to head home. Just as he was about to take off, however, he was stopped by a hand on his arm.

“Oh no you don’t,” a voice said from behind him. Sonic turned and saw Garnet glaring at him. “You’re not going back to that shack of yours,” she continued as she dragged the young hedgehog behind her. “You’re going straight to the infirmary so they can treat your injuries. And no buts!”

Sonic tried to protest and pull away, but Garnet had a death grip on his arm. Finally he just went limp and allowed her to drag him away.

\---------------

Sonic thought everyone was acting weird. Those that were in the infirmary kept giving him hugs or shaking his hand and smiling sadly at him. After the seventeenth time, he stopped caring. They were all probably just in shock from what had happened. 

It didn’t matter anymore anyways. He'd finally been let out after a couple of days and Sonic couldn’t wait to get moving. It had been boring being cooped up like that especially after the Robotnik fiasco. He wanted to run.

But first he had to check on his home and plane.

As he raced towards his shack, he passed by a ton of badnik scraps. The villagers had started getting everything cleaned up, but they still had a ways to go. Sonic decided he would help once he stretched his legs a bit.

After a bit, Sonic made it home and was happy to find his house standing just as it had been before, if a bit more crooked. Whether or not that was due to badniks, he didn’t know.

He went around back to make sure the Tornado was still okay, but froze when he saw it.

It wasn’t broken and beaten down, nor was it reduced to scraps. Instead, it was fixed. The propeller had been straightened out and it had been covered with a fresh coat of paint. All the scratches were gone and the holes had been replaced along with its left wing. It looked good as new.

“You look happy,” a voiced said from behind Sonic. He turned and found Garnet sitting on the grass a few inches from his house. “Sorry about the shack by the way,” she continued standing up. “Didn’t realize it would start moving when I leaned on it. You’d better find something better when you leave.”

“Leave?” Sonic thought as Garnet walked towards him. “What does she mean?”

Garnet stopped next to the hedgehog and gazed at the Tornado, a sad smile on her face. “This took forever by the way,” she started, not once taking her eyes off the plane. “You really didn’t know what you were doing, did you? Oh well, it’s fixed and you can now go wherever you want.”

Sonic stared at her in surprise. Was she saying what he thought she was saying?

Garnet noticed his look and laughed quietly. “You didn’t think any of us noticed?” she asked. “You’re not happy here. South Island’s too small. So, this is a thank you for saving us from all those robots and for the last six years in general. It was going to be something we did for your birthday. We’d have someone go with you as you went exploring and stuff, but now we see that you can take care of yourself. That you don’t need us anymore. So here.” The cat looked back at the plane and blinked rapidly. “You know how to fly right?” she asked. Sonic gave her a look and she laughed. “Right, right. That was your present a few years ago.”

Sonic didn’t know what to do. Here he had been trying to leave these people behind for years and now they were just handing his freedom to him. All he could do was stare at the Tornado with Garnet for a moment, for once not in a rush.

“I’m going to miss you,” Garnet said, turning around to head back. “Goodbye, Sonic the Hedgehog.” With that, she left.

Sonic once more looked at the plane. It really was perfect. Garnet must have worked really hard on it. He would have to find someway thank her in the future.

Sonic hopped in the plane and started the engine. It didn’t sputter out after a few moments like it always had before. It was working fine. Sonic looked out over the field and saw Garnet still making her way home. He decided that he would come back one day, just to visit. For now though, he was going to see the world.


	9. Chapter Eight: Learning

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The adventures of the Mayims continue. This time, they face a powerful obstacle: learning how hedgehogs live. Also birth. That's a thing. It's not very descriptive (I tried to be vague) but it's there so warning if you don't like that kind of stuff.

Jasper and Spirit led the Mayims through the strange home of the Hedgehogs which was filled with brown, flimsy homes and wooden staffs with dead animals and other material hanging from it. Bracha noted that these must be a species that needs to consume others for their energy. They felt pity for the Hedgehogs. That would be a sad existence.

There were many different kinds of hedgehogs. Most were dark colors like brown or black, but some were different. Some were pale green like Jasper or they where a light pink. One was even white. Bracha noticed that none were blue or yellow. Maybe they could not look like that? Or they wished to mutate differently maybe? 

Spirit stopped and turned to the Mayims. They said something and then ducked into one of the flimsy homes. A few moments passed and they came out with some other flimsy material. They handed it to Bracha and Reut. 

“Clothes,” they said. They then gestured to Jasper and Bracha noticed for the first time that the green Hedgehog had the material called Clothes draped over them. When Jasper noticed the two simply staring they sighed and said something to Jasper before walking away. The brown Hedgehog walked over to the two Mayims and helped them put the Clothes on. 

Bracha thought it was strange, but they would not question the Hedgehogs customs. They lived in a much different world that Bracha would once the Bayit was fixed. They would have some odd things that did not make sense to the Mayims, just as they had things that made no sense to the Hedgehogs.

Spirit returned again with eight objects in their arms. They looked similar to the Clothes but stiffer.

“Shoes,” Spirit told them pointing to their feet where a pair were resting. They saw that the Mayims did not get what to do after they handed the objects to them so the brown Hedgehog and Jasper helped to place the Shoes on the Mayims’ feet.

Bracha thought it was weird. They could not feel the ground below their feet. It was not uncomfortable, just strange.

“What about Mem?” Akiba asked, gesturing to Mem. Neither of the Hedgehogs had made a move to give the Clothes or Shoes to their friend. Jasper stared at them in confusion for a moment before realization dawned on their face.

They said something to Spirit and the other Hedgehog let out an audible breath of air and left, returning a moment later with another pair of Shoes. They walked over to Mem, but found that their feet were the wrong shape for the Shoes. They would not fit.

“Sorry,” Spirit told them. Bracha did not get what the word meant. It was not an object or person. They also doubted it was an insult as the Hedgehog did not seem to be angry or harsh. Maybe it was their way of saying “it does not fit?”

Bracha was taken out of their musings by a loud cry. They Mayims and Hedgehogs turned to see a pale pink Hedgehog with long spikes come running towards them.

“Spirit!” they cried out in a high pitched voice. They then told the other Hedgehog something and Spirit's eyes widened. Suddenly, Spirit and Jasper were running after the pink Hedgehog. 

“Come on!” Baruch said, chasing after the three. Reut and Akiba quickly followed, but Bracha stayed back with Mem. They were not as fast as Bracha and the others. In fact, they were even slower than the Hedgehogs were when they ran.

Bracha waited while Mem lost their form until they were simply a puddle of liquid, as they could move much faster that way. Then the two followed after the others.

 

\------------

Reut stared in horror at the sight in front of them as hands grabbed and pulled them out of the flimsy home. They could not believe what they had just seen.

They had made it to the flimsy home that Jasper and Spirit had ducked into and they wanted to see what had been inside, though they were not allowed in.

The light brown Hedgehog who had brought them from the pool of liquid to the Hedgehogs was standing outside with their eyes trained on the Mayims, arms crossed. They had been sitting outside the home when Bracha and Mem caught up.

“Why are you sitting out here?” they had asked.

“We are not supposed to go in,” Reut answered.

“Why not?” Bracha questioned, confused.

"I do not know."

That’s when they heard the horrible screeching.

Reut did not hesitate. They jumped up and dashed inside the home, determined to help whoever was hurt, but was stopped by what they saw.

They stared at the Hedgehog lying in front of them. They were screaming in pain and a dark red liquid was everywhere. Reut did not understand what was happening or what the other Hedgehogs in the home were doing. Was the screaming Hedgehog dying? Was that what was happening? Before they could see anything else, the light brown Hedgehog grabbed them and pulled them outside and pushed them towards their friends, growling something.

As they moved to sit, Reut did not answer their friend’s questions, they simply sat down next to them and stared up into the sky. Mem came over and stood beside them.

“What is that screaming?” they asked. Reut took a moment to respond.

“A Hedgehog,” they said. “I think they are dying.” Reut described what they had seen to the others in the tent. As they spoke the screaming became louder and louder. The Mayims sat there listening and trying to remember the funeral rights they had been taught as little ones. After what felt like an eternity, the screaming quieted down. For a few moments, all was quiet. Then a soft crying was heard.

Jasper popped their head out of the flimsy home and looked over at the Mayims, surprising Reut as they had not seen the Hedgehog in there before. Jasper gestured for the group to come into the home. They looked at each other before standing and following.

As they entered, the young ones were expecting to see a dead Hedgehog and cold sadness, but that was not what they found. The Hedgehog was sitting up and baring their white mouth things. A bundle of Clothes was in their arms.

Jasper walked up to the Hedgehog and said something to them. A moment later they walked back over with the Clothes. They knelt down and showed the Mayims the Clothes and inside, they saw a small, tiny version of a Hedgehog. Reut stared in fascination.

“Baby,” Jasper said. “Baby Hedgehog.” They placed their hand that was not holding the Hedgehog on Bracha. “Reut.” They then placed their hand on their chest. “Jasper.” They looked at the Hedgehog in their arms. “Ruby.”

Ruby opened their eyes and stared at the Mayim and gurgled. Was this a little one for the Hedgehogs? They looked exactly the same though. Maybe they mutated differently?

Reut was taken out of their musings by Ruby placing their hand on the Mayim. A sudden surge of warmth spread through their center as they stared into the Baby Hedgehog’s eyes. 

“Hello,” they whispered quietly to Ruby who cooed at the larger figure. Reut did not want to move from that spot ever.

Then the light brown Hedgehog came barging in, yelling about Mayims.


	10. Chapter Nine: The Little Planet

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sonic CD time! We got some Amy and Sonic and Metal Sonic. Also the name Planet Freedom comes from the Sonic OVA as Sega has stated that the world that Sonic lives on is not called Mobius, so I used that for a different world. There's also Earth where the humans live so that's three different worlds existing in three different dimensions. It'll be elaborated on more later. Enjoy.

It had been three months since Sonic the Hedgehog had defeated Robotnik, saved South Island, and started exploring the world and he honestly couldn’t be happier.

As he ran across the wide open fields, he thought about all that he had seen. The large cities, the clear valleys, the dense jungles, everything had been incredible, and now he was going to see something not many Planet Freedomers had seen: Little Planet.

Hardly anyone had managed to make it to the elusive planet as it only appeared above Never Lake one month out of the year before disappearing. It floated high above the ground and was impossible to reach without some kind of flying device. Luckily, Sonic had the Tornado. He’d be able to make it.

Currently though, he was just trying to find it. He’d asked around, but hardly anyone knew where Never Lake was and those who claimed to were just trying to scam him out of money. When he thought about it, Sonic realized that it was probably a good thing that nobody seemed to know where to find it or else someone would have turned the planet into a tourist trap by now, but that didn’t mean it wasn’t frustrating. 

Sonic only had one more day to find and explore Little Planet or he’d have to wait a whole year for it to return and he wasn’t about to let that happen. He would find the place on foot first, then get the Tornado and fly up to explore. He just had to make before time ran out.

He knew he’d make it.

\------------------

Amy Rose was an impulsive young hedgehog. At least, that's what her family said.

Her father had often told her to think things through before she went off doing whatever came to her mind, but she’d never been good at that. She couldn’t help it. She just got distracted easily. It wasn’t her fault.

Eventually, her father had begged her grandmother to help her in someway and the elderly hedgehog had given Amy a set of tarot cards. 

“These will tell you the future,” she’d been told. “So that way if you get an idea in your head you can consult the cards and find out if it’s a good idea or not.”

After she’d started using them, Amy had gotten into considerably less trouble, though she still managed to find herself in sticky situations every now and again, but it was much better than it had been.

Now, however, she was going to end up in yet another.

The Flying Planet had arrived as it does every seven weeks near Amy’s village. A tourist group from the next town over owned a blimp that it would use to bring tourists to the island whenever it arrived. Amy had always wanted to go, but had never been allowed.

Her entire village feared the planet due to a legend that had been passed down for generations. Tens of thousands of years ago, their ancestors had lived on a different world than the one they currently resided in and ha befriended a group of strange creatures that had never been seen before. After several generations of them being allies, the creatures had betrayed them by kidnapping the hedgehogs and taking them onto a strange floating island that had transported them to Mobius. Many of them perished due to the unknown world, but somehow a handful had managed to survive and settle down in the area that would later become Amy’s home.

The Flying Planet was a bit too close to the floating island for many of the villagers to be comfortable, and the ones who didn’t believe in the legend still decided to stay away because it was dangerous to go. If you were to remain there for too long, you would be taken away with it to wherever it went when it disappeared. Anyone who had gotten stuck on it when it left was never seen again and most thought it wasn’t worth the risk.

Not Amy though.

Amy wanted to go and explore it. She was intrigued and fascinated by the Flying Planet. An entire world that just appeared and disappeared? Yes please. She would be fine anyways. Hundreds of Mobians went on the planet every time it appeared and they were all fine so she would be too. She’d make sure not to lose track of time and get off the planet before it disappeared. She knew she would.

Just in case though, she checked her cards. When she read them she was shocked. Not only were they telling her to go, they were also saying that she would meet her soulmate on the Flying Planet! At least, that’s what she thought they were saying. The cards could be interpreted as saying that she would meet an old family friend if she went, but Amy had hardly ever gotten it wrong before. Just a few times. Only half of the time. It would be fine. Besides, she had already made up her mind.

“I’ll be back soon,” Amy thought to herself as she snuck quietly out the front door. She’d left her cards in her room so her parents would think she was just somewhere in the house as she never left home without them.

After she had gotten a good hundred feet out the door, Amy froze for a moment. She looked back at her house and debated whether or not she should just turn back. Then she thought about what (she thought) the cards had told her and continued on. She had to do this.

She had to find her soulmate.

\-------------

Sonic stared up in shock at the floating mass in front of him. He’d found Little Planet, but it was nothing like he had been expecting. 

What he thought he’d find was a lush green planet dotted with lakes and streams. Instead, what he saw was a dull, gray, and metallic sphere with a long chain connecting it to a large rock. When Sonic saw what was carved onto the rock, his shock disappeared and was replaced with anger and annoyance. 

“Robotnik,” he thought as he stared at the doctor's likeness. So he was the one behind this. For a moment, Sonic debated what to do. He could ignore this and leave it alone. It didn’t affect him or Planet Freedom in anyway. It would be a shame that Little Planet was lost, but that was its problem. Not his. That, however, would mean that Sonic never got to see the planet or explore it and that no one else ever would. Not to mention what would happen if Robotnik got bored and decided to come down to Planet Freedom.

Before he could make up his mind, however, Little Planet started to shake and blur, causing the giant chain to swing, hitting a large rock formation and sent boulders flying towards Sonic. He quickly jumped onto the first rock and managed to leap onto several more. The next one however, was too big to jump around, so instead he ended up having to spindash (that’s what he decided to call it) through it, causing it to crack into smaller boulders before they crashed to the ground.

Sonic stood on the very tip of the Robotnik rock, looking up at Little Planet. This really wasn’t his fight, but he couldn’t just let this happen. He had to stop it.

So he jumped off the rock and spindashed up a ramp-like ledge to launch himself at the chain. Once he made it, he began running up it towards Little Planet, determined to stop the mad doctor once again.

\-------------

Doctor Robotnik grinned as he watched the robot in front of him. Project Life Data had been a success so far. Everything was going his way! Little Planet was his and Sonic had been sighted in Palmtree Panic Zone, having come to the planet on his own. Dr. Robotnik hadn't even had to trick him into coming! Now all he had to do was test out his latest and greatest creation.

And he knew just how to do it.


	11. Chapter Ten: Fear

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So back with the Mayims. Real quick, so Jasper and Spirit are married and Azar is Spirit's younger sister. It's not really relevant to the story but it will be mentioned a few times so yeah. Anyways, enjoy!

Azar didn’t trust these creatures. She thought it was a bad idea to let them into their home. Some of them may look like hedgehogs, but that didn’t mean anything. They might be able to shapeshift. She’d seen the one that looked like water melt into a puddle so it wasn’t an unreasonable assumption. She couldn't help but think that Spirit and Jasper were playing a dangerous game. They were too trusting and it was bound to get someone hurt. Azar just hoped it wasn’t this time.

The fact that a larger one of the creatures had appeared in the center of their home didn’t help to put her at ease.

“Spirit! Jasper!” she called out, getting her knife ready just in case. “There’s another Mayim!”

Spirit darted out of the tent, followed closely by Jasper and the smaller Mayims. When they saw the larger one, they all frozen and stared blankly.

“Aviya,” the green-eyed one said after a minute of silence. The creature stared for a moment before turning around. A small, round creature sat at its feet, looking up at surrounding hedgehogs in fascination. 

The Mayims began to speak to “Aviya” who never once replied, and yet that didn’t seem to stop the hedgehog look-alikes. They continued like this for a while and to Azar, it almost looked like they were arguing. The look-alikes began to get more and more angry, their voices rising in volume until “Aviya” spun around. When it did, a sudden shockwave ran through the air and knocked everyone to the ground.

Azar jumped up and brandished her knife, ready to attack if need be. “Aviya” simply looked at her in disinterest before grabbing the small creature still by its feet. It looked at the look-alikes before turning and walking away.

The small Mayims looked dejected. The silver-eyed one wrapped his arms around Spirit’s leg while the others spoke something in their language to the gathered hedgehogs before following after “Aviya.” The second they were out of sight, Azar turned to the hedgehog standing next to her.

“Follow them and make sure that they don’t try anything,” she told him. He nodded and ran off after the Mayims. When he was gone, Azar spun around to face Spirit and Jasper.

“Jasper, Spirit, we need to talk,” she demanded. “Now.”

“What about?” Jasper asked, appearing clueless, but Azar knew that she was faking. She knew what Azar was upset about.

“You know exactly what,” she snarled. “You two are letting those things into our home even though we know nothing about them. Do you know how reckless that is?”

“I know you’re concerned, Azar,” Spirit said, stepping towards her, “but if we weren’t completely sure that they weren’t going to try something, we’d never trust them. They haven’t given us a reason to be aggressive and we need allies. You know that better than anyone.”

Azar’s hand drifted to her stomach where a long and jagged scar lay. It was true. Their tribe needed powerful allies and from what she’d seen, the Mayims were very strong creatures, able to take out a group of hedgehogs without even touching them. If that power was used against them though…

“Alright,” she finally decided. “I will respect your decision, for now.” She took a step closer to the pair. “If I see anything suspicious, however, I won’t hesitate.”

“Understood,” Spirit said, smiling. “I’ll leave it to you.”

\-----------------

Mem stood next to the others as they watched Aviya and Shakhor. None of them knew quite what to do. It was one thing for a group of young ones or a little one to accidently stay behind when the Bayit left, but an older one? They only stayed behind if they wished to not continue to travel with the rest of the Mayims, which was treason. So why had Aviya stayed behind?

“Why?” Baruch asked the older one before Mem could. “Why did you stay behind?”

“To keep you safe,” Aviya replied. “We do not know what is on this world or what danger it might hold. Especially with the four of you who look like the Hedgehogs. We do not know how much like them or like us you are. So it is my duty to keep you safe, as I am to blame for us being here.”

The Mayims stood there silently for a moment. It was true. Aviya was to blame for the events that had taken place and while the young ones were not angry or upset about it, it was still hard to completely relax with a Mayim who was shunned.

“You will be called a traitor,” Mem finally said. Aviya’s form rippled, betraying their fear. When they spoke however, they sounded calm.

“Then I will be a traitor.” 

\----------------

Tovia was the first to notice.

They searched all throughout the Bayit, but could find no sign of the young ones. What was worse, Aviya also seemed to be missing.

“Stav!” they sent out, hoping to reach one of the Leaders. “Dikla! Yuual!”

“What is matter?” A close voice said, startling Tovia. They turned to see Stav behind them. They seemed calm for once now that they had scouts retrieving the Chaos Emeralds for the Master Emerald. Tovia hesitated for a moment, considering not telling Stav of the news and finding another, but they did not know were the other Leaders might be. It would be quicker to say this now.

“The young ones are missing,” they said. “Aviya is also gone.”

Bubbles appeared in Stav’s form. The heat of their anger could easily be felt by the younger Mayim, even though they were not touching. Tovia understood where their fury came from. Not only was Aviya missing from the Bayit with the only chance to leave being while they were still in the Other World, it was possible they had taken the young ones with them. Tovia doubted this though. Aviya might have been a failure, but they would not take the young ones away in such a fashion. There was more to this. Tovia knew it.

“The failure has committed treason then,” Stav said, their mind echoing throughout the Bayit, reaching all inside it. “If they are seen again, they shall receive punishment.” With that, Stav turned and left, leaving Tovia to wonder if they did the right thing.

\---------------

Spirit stood by the lake where he had first encountered the Mayims, staring up at the starry sky above him. In just a couple days, so much had happened. When he’d first met the strange creatures, his first priority was to simply leave them be and to not start another war. Now though, he’d seen that they had a lot of power. They could change shape and take out a group of hedgehogs without even touching them. Not to mention, if they were made of water, then they might be completely immune to anyone’s weapons. They would be valuable allies.

Azar’s words echoed through his mind. It was true. They really had no idea what the Mayims were capable of, nor what their motivations were. They couldn’t even communicate. What if they tried something? What if this was all a trick?

“Someone’s a bit distracted, huh?” Spirit turned and saw Jasper. She smiled and made her way over to him. He looked back towards the sky as she took his hand, lacing their fingers together.

For a moment, the two stood there in silence, watching the stars. Finally, Jasper spoke. 

“You’re worried about what Azar said, aren’t you?”

Spirit chuckled softly. He could never get anything past her. “That obvious, huh?”

“You don’t have to worry about anything, you know that right?” Jasper said, squeezing his hand. “Even if they do try anything, we’ll stop them.”

“Let’s hope so.” Spirit closed his eyes. He appreciated what Jasper was trying to do, but something felt off. He knew something was going to happen. Something big.

He just didn’t know what.


	12. Chapter Eleven: The Rose

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The meeting between Amy and Sonic has arrived! Whoo-hoo! Kinda weird because (in this story at least) Sonic met Amy before Tails. She was his first friend. Also got some of Dat Boi in there too along with my favorite boss battle because of how stupid I think it is. Eggman wearing giant pants? Hilarious! Anyhow, enjoy!

Sonic had heard of the Seven Time Stones that existed on Little Planet. How could he not have? Every time someone would talk about the planet, they’d spend nearly ten minutes rambling about the strange objects. Sonic usually zoned out after a minute or two, but he did manage to catch a few things. One, they could control time, sending someone far into the past or into the future. Two, they could only work like this while on Little Planet. Three, because of their presence, a visitor could travel through time on the planet and still return to Planet Freedom only a few hours later. Four, they were supposed to be a myth.

Now however, Sonic was starting to think there may be some truth to them.

He had been running through a zone that had looked a lot like Green Hill Zone back on South Island just with palm trees, destroying badniks as he went, when he’d passed a sign that said Past. He’d hadn’t given it much thought and simply continued on when suddenly he was engulfed by a green light.

The next thing he knew, he was in an area that looked a lot like the zone he’d just been in, but different. Everything looked almost prehistoric like. There were still badniks and traps everywhere, that was the same, but everything else was different. 

Had he traveled back in time? Where the myths true? Well, if the Chaos Emeralds were real, then why wouldn't the Time Stones?

Sonic didn’t have time to dwell on it though. If this was actually time travel, then it meant that Robotnik was probably trying to get his grubby hands on the stones. Sonic had to make sure that he didn’t get them. He had to find them first.

\--------------

Sonic stared at the badnik in front of him. It looked exactly like him, just more...metally. It was stepping on a small animal and seemed to enjoy the torment of the poor creature. Sonic shook his head. He needed to focus. Even if it was really creepy that Robotnik built a badnik that looked exactly like him. Like, super creepy. The guy needed a hobby. 

He prepared to attack, building up some momentum and spindashed into the badnik and went right through it, hitting something much smaller instead.

Sonic stopped and spun around to find both the badnik and the animal gone. Instead, all he saw was a small clump of broken metal. It had just been a hologram, probably to freak him out and throw him off his game. This should have put Sonic at ease, there wasn’t a metal version of himself running around (and Robonik hadn't hit a new level of creepiness), but it didn’t. A tight feeling sat in his gut. Whatever that thing was, he knew there was more to it. He just didn’t know what.

\--------------

The giant floating ring in front of Sonic felt off. Sure, it looked exactly like the ones that he had found the Chaos Emeralds in, yet it just felt...wrong. Warning signals went off in his head, telling him to stay away, but he had to see what was in there. If it was the Chaos Emeralds he had to get them before Robotnik realized they were there. So he took a deep breath and jumped in.

Sonic found himself on some kind of floating race track with weird UFO looking things that floated through the air as they moved. Sonic glanced around and saw no sign of an emerald or anything else resembling one. He had no idea what to do. Before it had just come to him, but now there was nothing. Nothing except a large feeling of wrongness.

A buzzing started up in the back of the hedgehog’s head. It almost sounded as if something was trying to speak to him, but he couldn’t make out any of the words. After a few moments, a fuzzy gray image appeared in his mind. It showed him destroying one of the UFOs. What that what he was supposed to do?

One was heading towards him. Now was the time to find out.

Sonic curled up and attacked it, easily destroying it in one hit. Once it was gone a weak and barely there voice whispered, “more.” So he continued until every single UFO was gone.

The area around him disappeared and he was suddenly back on Little Planet. In his hand was a large orange gem that looked a lot like a Chaos Emerald, but the energy it gave off was different. Sonic somehow knew that this wasn’t one of the emeralds. It was one of the Time Stones.

It felt wrong to hold it in his hand. There wasn’t anything really dangerous or life threatening about it, it just felt so foreign to Sonic. He wasn’t sure how, but he knew that he and the stone were not meant to interact. They had to though, so he quickly put it away and continued on.

\----------------

Robotnik was waiting for him at the end of the zone.

Sonic skidded to a stop and stared up at Robotnik, the two Time Stones he had gotten buzzing slightly. The doctor was sitting in some kind of giant pair of bulky mechanical pants. Sonic thought he looked ridiculous, but Robotnik seemed to think he looked intimidating.

“Sonic,” Robotnik said, a wide grin stretching across his face, “I’m glad to see that you could make it. It wouldn’t be the same without you.” The metal pants took a few steps forward. “I’ve done a bit of upgrading in preparation of your arrival. Now, let’s see if you can handle this!”

With that, Robotnik began to march his way forward.

Really really really slowly.

Sonic stared in disbelief. There was no way. He could not be that stupid.

“This will be your doom!” Robotnik shouted, laughing maniacally.

He was that stupid.

Sonic was done waiting. He began to attack and with only a few well-aimed shots, he’d easily defeated Robotnik.

“I can’t believe this!” Robotnik yelled as he fled. “I’ll get you next time Sonic!”

After he was out of sight, Sonic glanced around to make sure there were no other traps lying around. This wasn’t South Island. Sonic wouldn’t be able to easily tell if there was something hidden. Nothing seemed to be amiss however, so Sonic continued onto the next zone.

Right as he entered it however, something warm grabbed him from behind.

“I found you!”

\-------------

Amy ran through the zone as fast as her legs would carry her. She’d gotten separated from her tour group when they’d entered Collision Chaos and found it overrun with robots that had immediately started to attack them. The group had scattered and Amy had somehow managed to lose sight of the others. She’d then been caught in a flash of green light and was surprised to find herself in another place entirely, though she didn’t have time to dwell on it as the robot that had been chasing her appeared again.

Maybe this was a bad idea. Maybe she had read the cards wrong. Amy really didn’t care. She just wanted to go home.

“I can’t believe this!” a voice yelled from somewhere in front of her. Suddenly, the robot chasing her exploded and out jumped a little rabbit. Amy watched as it hopped around a bit before she turned to where she had heard the voice. She quietly crept forward and peered around a corner to find a dark blue hedgehog wearing red and white sneakers glaring at a giant egg-looking thing with a mustache.

“I’ll get you next time Sonic!” the egg thingy said as it flew away in some kind of flying machine, but Amy payed it no mind. Instead, her eyes focused solely on the hedgehog in front of her.

He seemed to only a few years older than Amy and he appeared to be looking around for something, his dark, black eyes darting around. He was perched on the balls of his feet, as if he was prepared to jump away at any moment. Amy had never seen him before so he wasn’t from her village and the cards had said that she would meet her soulmate on the Flying Planet. This had to be him! This had to be her soulmate! She had read the cards correctly!

Amy could barely contain herself. The second he walked past her, Amy jumped out and grabbed her soulmate, her arms wrapping tightly around his torso.

“I found you!” she squealed happily.


	13. Chapter Twelve: Foxes

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And here we get the introduction to another set of characters! Foxes eat hedgehogs irl so I thought it would be funny if they were warring tribes. Also, can a hedgehog Mayim die this way? Guess we'll find out soon.

Akiba sat silently as they stared out over the land beneath them. Their feet dangled over the edge of the Bayit as they listened to the talking of the two young ones playing beside them.

Akiba closed their eyes and thought about what had happened these last few light and dark cycles. After they and the others had been brought back onto the Bayit, Aviya had been taken away despite the protests of the young ones. Instead, they had been ignored and then taken to the nursery and left with the little ones while the elder ones decided what to do with the former captain. There Bracha had entertained the scared little ones with tales of what they had seen with the Hedgehogs and how they lived. Shortly after, another group of the little ones in the nursery chose to mutate to look like Hedgehogs, just very small. Not as small as Ruby had been, but still very small.

The elder ones had been surprised, and scared. Akiba had seen the way their forms trembled as they tried to seperate the young ones and the little ones. It had not worked however, as the young ones refused to leave the little ones and vice versa. Akiba knew there was tension everywhere. The older ones where afraid. What would happen to the young ones? Would they be able to survive when they fixed the Bayit and left these worlds? Or would they perish? They were trying to be brave, but the thoughts of the elder ones were making them afraid.

Akiba was suddenly broken out of their musings by one of the young ones crashing into them.

“Sorry!” they squealed, quickly jumping off the older young one and ran back to their friend. Akiba could not help but feel some joy. Things might be stressful now, but they would get better. They had to believe it. For their sake.

\------------------

It was dark. Aviya could not see anything through the blackness. It was also so cold. So very very cold. They wanted out, but they could not seem to reform. Fear laced through them. 

How long would they be there?

\----------------

Baruch did not like this. Not one bit. 

They and the others were no longer allowed to leave the Bayit, simply because Aviya had stayed behind to try and keep them safe. Baruch did not get why they were the ones being punished, they had done nothing wrong. All they had done was go visit the Hedgehogs and yet everyone was acting like they had almost died. So what if they had stayed behind for a bit? So what if several little ones had mutated? It did not mean they had to be punished.

Baruch did not care what they were told, they would go and see the Hedgehogs if they wanted to.

Though the fact that they had absolutely no idea where they were at the moment was not helping with their conviction.

Tall, dark brown columns surrounded the young Mayim and a large green covering hid most of the light, leaving the area around them in shadows. Strange noises echoed from all sides, overwhelming Baruch. They did not know where they were. Last time they had left to find the Hedgehogs, Bracha had lead them and Baruch had not bothered to pay attention to where they had been going. They now wished they had.

Something suddenly snapped behind Baruch and a loud cry rang in their ears. It was a cry of pain.

As slowly and a silently as they could manage, Baruch approached the sound. They pressed themselves against the brown column, the rough surface digging into them, and peered around it.

Standing several feet away was a creature that looked somewhat like a Hedgehog, but at the same time not. It was a dark gray color and had a long, thick tail with white on it. The creature had no spikes anywhere, which was strange to the Mayim. Was this not a Hedgehog? 

The Not Hedgehog moved slightly and Baruch saw a second one (this time an light orange color) standing over a normal Hedgehog and holding a long object covered in a dark red liquid. The Hedgehog was lying on the ground completely still. Baruch did not know what had happened to it, but they knew it could not be good. They decided that they did not want the two creatures to see them, so they began to quietly back away.

Sadly they had no practice in the art of stealth and they immediately tripped, falling to the ground with a hard crash.

\----------------

Pine stared at the bushes. Someone was there.

He glanced over at Poppy and they silently decided on a plan. Quietly, the two made their way towards the sound, Poppy in the lead with her spear held ready, each move synchronized. When they reached the bushes, Poppy once more went first to assess the danger.

"Hey, Pine," she called, "you need to see this!

Pine pushed his way forward and was met with a small, blue hedgehog with bright green eyes filled with fear.

“Hello,” Pine said, “Who are you?” The Hedgehog said nothing.

“What are you doing?” Poppy asked him.

“I’m asking for his name?”

“Why? He’s probably a scout.”

Pine gave her a look. “He’s a child. I doubt the hedgehogs would sent a child as a scout.”

“Who knows what they’ll do. They’re a crafty bunch,” she countered. “Do you really want to risk it? We should just kill him now.”

“He. Is. A. Child.” Pine said, stepping between Poppy and the hedgehog, who was looking up at them in confusion. “He’s probably just wandered in here accidentally. We can just take him to the edge of the territory and let him leave. It’s not a huge deal.”

“And what will the chief say when we tell him that we let a hedgehog go? Because I’m telling him.” She stared at Pine, an eye ridge raised in question. Pine knew that the chief wouldn’t be happy and the last time he’d been mad…

Pine glanced at the hedgehog. The fear had left his eyes and he simply stared up at the fox curiously. He really was young. 

“Alright,” Pine finally said, stepping out of the way and turning his back. He did not want to see this.

“Eyes closed little one,” Poppy sang softly. “This’ll be over soon.”


	14. Chapter Thirteen: The Metal Faker

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this took awhile, I got busy. Anyhow, I have one thing to tell you: go watch the Sonic OVA. The basis for Metal Sonic that I have going is from that movie.

If it hadn’t been for the fact that the thing clinging to him was warm, Sonic was sure that he would had attacked it. The lack of cold metal, however, made him hesitate and allowed him just enough time to realize that this wasn’t a robot. 

He somehow managed to twist around just enough to see a spikey pink head, revealing the other to be a hedgehog, like him. Sonic was surprised. He’d never seen another hedgehog before.

Finally, the pink hedgehog let go of him and stepped back a bit, allowing Sonic to get a good look at them. First thing he noticed was that she was a girl and that her bright pink quills were in a similar style to Sonic’s, but she also had a tuft of bangs over her black eyes. She wore a bright green blouse and orange skirt with light blue sneakers. Behind her ears sat a dark red headband.

The hedgehog grinned at him, but when he gave no response, it slowly faded.

“Oh, duh!” the hedgehog suddenly exclaimed in a high pitched voice. “You don’t know who I am! I’m Amy Rose. What’s your name?”

Sonic didn’t answer (not that he could anyway), but Amy didn’t seem to mind.

“Oh, so you’re the strong silent type then,” she cooed dreamily. Sonic had absolutely no idea what was going on.

Of course, before he could figure out a way to ask her what she meant, something Robotnik related happened. Or, at least he assumed it was Robotnik related. 

“What is that thing?”Amy cried out as the badnik landed in front of her, separating her and Sonic. Sonic watched in shock as the look-a-like badnik from earlier turned to face him, except this time it was very much real. 

It regarded Sonic for a moment before turning back to Amy. In an instant it shot forward and grabbed the pink hedgehog in its tight grip.

“HELP ME!” Amy screamed as the badnik shot high into the air, just outside of Sonic’s reach. It hovered there silently for a moment, seeming unfazed by Amy’s struggling, before taking off. Sonic began chasing after it, but was surrounded by a hoard of badniks, forcing him to take his eyes off the pair. Once he had destroyed them all, Amy and the badnik were out of sight.

“So, it seems we have some guests!” Robotnik suddenly said, his voice echoing around Sonic. “Sadly they’re uninvited, the penalty for which is death!” Robotnik cackled delightfully. “However, I’ll let you and Girly live if you can beat Metal Sonic in a race. An impossible task as he is designed to be your better in every way!” Robotnik once more dissolved into a giggle fit, leaving Sonic with a feeling of fear and mild concern.

“Anyhow,” Robotnik continued once he’d caught his breath, “Meet us at Stardust Speedway, if you dare.” With that, he went silent.

Sonic really didn’t want to deal with this. He was already risking his life for some weird planet that he’d never seen before and now he had to rescue some little kid on top of everything else. Great. Just great.

Sonic sighed and ran off in the direction that “Metal Sonic” had gone, still slightly weirded out by the fact that Robotnik had built a robot copy of him.

The guy really needed a hobby.

\-----------------

Doctor Robotnik cackled delightedly. His plan was working perfectly. All he had to do was test Metal Sonic and see if he could stand up to the real thing. He just had to wait for Sonic to make it to Stardust Speedway. That is, if he could make it past everything Dr. Robotnik had put in his way in the past, present, and future.

“Metal!” he said, using the communicator that was connected to the robot. “Make sure that pink hedgehog does not escape! We can use her as bait to make sure Sonic actually shows up.”

“Affirmative,” Metal Sonic beeped back.

Dr. Robotnik grinned. Everything was falling into place.

\------------------

Metal Sonic felt strange.

He was not sure how though. He kept running scans to try and discover the problem, but there did not seem to be anything wrong. Everything was running smoothly. He should feel fine. He did feel fine, it was just felt different than it should.

“Let me go!” the pink hedgehog in his arms cried out, struggling to free herself. It caused him no bother. She was weak compared to him.

“Where are you taking me?” the hedgehog demanded to know.

“To Stardust Speedway to act as bait for Sonic,” he answered her.

“Hey! I asked you a question!” she shouted at him.

“And I answered you,” he said.

“Why won’t you answer me!” she screamed. Metal Sonic felt a twinge of annoyance and was tempted to drop her.

Wait.

Metal Sonic should not be feeling emotions such as annoyance. He should not be feeling any emotions at all. He quickly ran one more system check, again finding nothing wrong or out of the ordinary. This was odd. After he defeated Sonic he would have to go and have Doctor Robotnik check it out.

For now though, he simply took the pink hedgehog and placed her in a containment capsule. Once the container had been closed, her screams went silent, unable to pass through the soundproof metal walls. Metal Sonic felt a twinge of relief. The hedgehog was very annoying.

He was definitely going to have Doctor Robotnik fix whatever it was that was affecting his system.

\-------------

Sonic had made it to Stardust Speedway. He searched for the metal faker and Amy as he ran, all seven Time Stones buzzing softly. They were giving him a slight headache, but he did his best to ignore it. He didn’t have time to focus on them. He had to find Amy and Metal. Sonic had already seen what Robotnik was willing to do with animals, who knows what he’d do to a Planet Freedomer.

“I see you’ve made it, Sonic.”

Sonic skidded to a stop and saw Robotnik sitting in his hover vehicle, grin on his face. Behind him hovered Metal Sonic.

“Are you ready for the race?” Robotnik asked. When Sonic offered no response he sighed and rolled his eyes. “Or don’t say anything. Alright then. See if I care. Metal!” Metal Sonic flew forward and landed in front of Sonic. He beeped a few times and then copied Sonic’s stance with one of his hands on his hip. This really was freaky.

“Good luck Sonic, you’re going to need it.


End file.
